Latest News

June 2024

Public Meetings

We have had a series of very well attended and successful public meetings to discuss more about the share ownership scheme and to ask any questions of the steering committee. These were held both at the Kings Arms and the Village Hall over 3 dates.

June 2024

Share Offer Deadline Extended

Due to the general election and the un-certainty this has shed on some of the grant applications we are waiting on, the share offer deadline has been extended to 31st July 2024.

June 2024

Share Offer Latest

The share offer has smashed through the £100,000 barrier and is progressing nicely. Thank you for everyone who has invested so far.

May 2024

Be part of History…and invest in your own 500 year old pub

This is your opportunity for a limited amount of time to purchase shares in the Kings Arms and save it as the countries latest Community Pub. Be part of history and own part of your very own 16th century pub. Create a thriving and necessary hub for everyone in the community.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Fill in the share purchase form now HERE. For more details see the business plan and share offer documents HERE.

If you have any questions or want to know more about the share offer join the Steering Committee at the Village Hall in Cleeve Prior on May 11th at 2pm followed by a drink and informal Q & A session at the pub.

April 2024

Village Pub reopens ahead of Share Offer

Efforts by the residents of Cleeve Prior to buy the Kings Arms have led to the pub reopening, months ahead of schedule, boosting the community's chances of raising enough money to buy it.

Villagers trying to save the 500-year-old pub formed Cleeve Prior Community Pub Limited, a Community Benefit Society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, in a bid to save the pub from permanent closure, when it shut its doors last year.

This Society is now working in collaboration with licensee Dave Lewis, ahead of a Community Share Offer which will [be/was] launched on 27th April. Residents and the wider public are being invited to invest in history by buying shares in the Society, with a target of at least £200,000, which will sit alongside grant monies to enable the pub to be bought and sensitively refurbished.

Brian Williams, Chair of the Society, said, "This target may seem daunting, but well over half of this amount has already been pledged and it is in line with successful campaigns of other community owned pubs in the region, such as the Queen Elizabeth in Elmley Castle, the Fox at Loxley, and the New Inn in Norton Lindsey."

Grants have already been secured from the Architectural Heritage Fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and a decision is expected shortly from the UK Government Department of Levelling-Up, on an application to the Community Ownership Fund, which has the support of local MP Nigel Huddlestone.

"Reopening the pub, with special events such as regular jazz nights, Cow nights on a Monday and Curry nights on a Thursday while we market and sell shares, underlines our belief that the Kings Arms, Cleeve Prior is a viable proposition, and by collaborating with Dave we can ensure a seamless transition to a community owned Pub, when the time comes" explains Brian.

A public meeting is to be held at the Cleeve Prior Memorial Hall on Saturday 11 May at 2pm to present the share opportunity and answer any questions. More information about the share offer can be found on this link:

SHARE DOCUMENT LINK

April 2024

More good news.

The working party to save the Kings Arms has been working hard over the last few weeks to finalise the Business Plan and Community Share Ownership documents and are pleased to announce that these have just been awarded the Community Share Standard Mark which acknowledges that the Kings Arms Share Offer meets national standards of good practice.

It is hoped that the share offer will be launched in the next few weeks so watch this space and get ready to get your hands in your pockets to support your local pub and community hub.

Feb 2024

Crowdfunding

We need to raise a total of approx £450,000 to buy the freehold, fix things and manage the Kings Arms as a village. We have already had over £110,000 pledged by villagers and we have applied for several grants.

BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP

We need a small fund of between £3000-£5000 to help us apply for more grants as they incur legal fees, reports and professional support. This is our fighting fund.

PLEASE HELP AND DONATE AT OUR CROWDFUNDING PAGE

CROWDFUNDING PAGE LINK

Feb 2024

Open Day

The Save the Kings Arms Open Day was a great success on 10th February. The steering group was overwhelmed by the level of support from the community during Saturday's event at the memorial hall. Members were on hand to answer questions and hear ideas from an enthusiastic community and in addition raised over £1000 in cash donations to the fighting fund to meet early campaign costs. The open day was supported by Nigel Huddlestone MP, CAMRA as well as in excess of 100 local residents.

Feb 2024

The Save the Kings Arms Open Day will take place on Saturday 10th February 12 till 4pm. Come and see what the steering committee have been busy with, learn how the fund raising is going, the proposed future plans for the pub if the community are successful in owning the Kings Arms, and ask any questions that you may have. Talk to a local estate agent, look at proposed designs for possible interior layouts and learn more about how to pledge money, get more involved or even to make a donation to help with the initial seed money.

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The campaign to Save the Kings Arms has received backing and a visit from the local MP..."the very best way to protect the future of the pub is for it to be community owned and run on a not-for-profit basis. The group certainly have the drive, enthusiasm and I believe business knowledge to make it succeed.

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Jan 2024

Over the Christmas period a campaign for financial pledges was launched to gauge the continued support from within the community in advance to the formal launch of the Community Ownership Share offering in February 2024.

Dec 2023

On 21st December the Cleeve Prior Community Pub Limited was registered by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 as a Community Benefit Society. We are now a legal entity set up primarily to ensure the continuation of the Kings Arms Pub as an invaluable asset to the whole community.

Nov 2023

The Steering group joined the Plunkett Foundation which are a UK charity that supports people to set up and run a wide range of businesses which are owned by local communities, where members have equal and democratic control. At the start of 2023 Plunkett represented around 750 community-owned businesses in rural and urban areas throughout the UK, from shops and pubs through to woodlands, farms and fisheries.

With help from their dedicated business advisor invaluable help, support and guidance has been accessed to help.

Oct 2023

An initial community questionnaire was distributed throughout the village and surrounding catchment over the weekend of the 27-29 October to quantify the support and needs of the village for a community enterprise. Some 111 responses were gathered which led to a whole host of vital data on the potential demand and desires of the village. Some highlights were:

• 52% respondents are interested in purchasing shares
• 94% respondents think that the village pub is 'important'
• 73% respondents want 'good value honest pub grub'
• 69% respondents would support special theme nights

Oct 2023

On 16th October the inaugural meeting of the Kings Arms Steering Group was held consisting of 7 villagers and the previous landlord of the Kings Arms. This was the first of the group's weekly meetings to look at options and ways forward including sources of funding.

Oct 2023

To assess the opinion of the village a public meeting was held on 11th October in the Memorial Hall. The meeting was well attended by 60+ concerned residents and after some discussion it was unanimously agreed that a Steering Group be established to save the pub as a long-term vital asset to the community.

Sep 2023

The latest tenants decided not to continue with the trail tenancy any longer and the Kings Arms was put on the market with Sydney Phillips on behalf of the freehold owner, Brian Thorpe.